How US strikes could bring Tehran, Moscow closer

By Saeid Jafari for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iran Business News.

Iran’s relationship with Russia has always been characterized by a mix of hope and dread. While one faction in Tehran wants to expand ties, another faction has been traditionally concerned about Moscow’s trustworthiness.

The Syrian crisis has, however, brought the two countries closer together given their shared support for President Bashar al-Assad.

Despite the current collaboration, there is constant concern that Russia might turn its back on Iran for a better deal, or that Moscow might maneuver in Syria in a manner that will not safeguard Iran’s interests in the region.

The latest boost to this anxiety came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent attempts to attract Russia’s attention. Netanyahu’s March 9 visit to Moscow was conducted with the hope of getting President Vladimir Putin’s approval for Netanyahu’s vision of the future order in Syria, which directly impacts the Iranian-Israeli dynamic.

At his meeting with Putin, Netanyahu charged that Iran is spreading “Shiite Islamic terrorism” and urged Moscow to not let Tehran use the Syrian crisis to further its goals against Israel. For his part, the Russian president urged the Israeli prime minister to avoid finding roots to current tension with Iran in “the fifth century B.C.” and to instead focus on current realities.

Naturally, Netanyahu’s visit was carefully watched by Tehran, with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responding to the charges of the supposed historical enmity of Persians toward Jews on Twitter on March 12.

On March 17, 10 days before Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Russia, Israel attacked targets in Syria. The next day, Moscow summoned the Israeli ambassador over the airstrikes, without publicizing details of the meeting. As such, when Rouhani departed for his first state visit to Russia, it was clear that a large part of his discussions would center on Syria.

One Response to How US strikes could bring Tehran, Moscow closer

Iran must understand that Trump has sold out to the Deep State with in the USA.
If Trump was independent minded he wouldn’t have been appointed as President.
Israel desperately covets the Golan heights because under neat that land rest an ocean-full of Oil and a farther located a vast amount of natural gas. This is one of the reason
for trying to create chaos in Syria, whereby Israel could annex that part of Syria.
Having said that, it’s perfectly fine for Israel to annex parts of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon.
However it’s not kosher for Russia to acquire the Crimea which was democratically voted on by the people in the first place. It’s also perfectly fine for the Assistant Sec of European affairs Victoria Nulan to bribe the Ukrainian leadership with $6 Billion and rig the
Ukrainian elections by appointing several Israeli dual citizens who are continuing to
rob the country and creating even more chaos. Next they will try to master mind to
duplicate the same chaos in Belarus. This is the way to bring Democracy for the people, just
like the democracy which Iraq enjoys today not to mention Afghanistan and Libya, Sudan
and alike.
The world is contaminated with such greed which is beyond any previous history of this world. This relentless greed could wipe out the existence of life on earth for ever.
Time to live and let live.